Two Hacienda Heights men have been arrested for allegedly running a website that advertised commercial sex services, authorities said Saturday.
Kebin Dong, 38, and Wei Nie, 40, were arrested Thursday at their home in the 16000 block of Chariot Place, in the conclusion of a year-long investigation conducted by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office’s Special Crimes Unit, the department announced.
Detectives with assistance from multiple law-enforcement agencies, including the Ventura Police Department and the Los Angeles Regional Human Trafficking Task Force, executed search warrants at several suspected brothel locations in both Ventura County and Los Angeles County. During the operation, multiple female victims of potential human trafficking were contacted and provided on-scene support and consultation by victim-service providers, authorities said.
Investigators believe Dong and Nie were the owners and operators of a website that openly advertised commercial sex services, according to Ventura County Sheriff’s Detective Nan Jiang.
“At one point, detectives identified more than 30 residential and hotel brothel locations operating throughout the state of California, including locations within Ventura County,” Jiang said. “Detectives also identified more than 60 female profiles on the website, believed to be commercial sex workers operating at the advertised brothel locations.”
Dong and Nie were arrested on suspicion of pimping, conspiracy and pandering. They were booked into the Ventura County Pre-Trial Detention Center, with bail set at $200,000 each.
Anyone with information regarding the investigation was urged to contact Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or visit lacrimestoppers.org.